Apparatus for vulcanizing vehicle-tires



L. mcoasow. APPARATUS FOR VULG ANIZING VEHICLE TIRES.

.APPLICA'TION EILED MAR. l-5, 1918.

Patented May 3, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET I L. JACOBSON. APPARATUS FOR VULCANIZING'VEHICLE mas.APPLICATION FILED mm. 15, me. I 1 77 ,133, Patented May 3,1921.

2 VSHEETS-SHEET 2.

Application filed March15, 191a. Seria1 No.222,534'.

UNI ED "PATENT, OFFICE.

LEO JAooBsoN, or enrolle -rumors, Ass enon roienononnfooornn, oF'cLEvE-ANn,onIo.

. ArPARArus roR;vutoamznve} VEHICLE-TIRES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Lno J ACOBSON, a I zen ofthe UnitedStates, residing at Chicago,

in the county of Cook and State oflllinois,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for vulcanizingVehicle-Tires,

of which the following is a specification: I

This invention relates to a vulcanizing apparatus designed. moreespecially for rejuvenating or renewing old or worn out pneumaticvehicle tires, although the apparatus is equally serviceable; forproducing newtires. if j I Its chief obj ectis to so organizetheapparatus thatia single heating chamber or jacket may bentilized inconnectionwith a plurality of interchangeablemolds or mold-shells ofvarious sizes andr designs, ,thus greatly simplifying the vulcanizingoutfit andreduc ing its cost to .afigurewithin the reachof 1tire-repairers in comparatively small com munities wherelthe costofavariety offlordinary molds would be prohibitive.

Another object; ofthe invention is toso vulcanizing .01 both j clencher.tires and straight-beadedtires. i y

In the accompanylngdrawingsi Figure 1 is 'afltopplan view, partly insec;

tion of the improved-apparatus Fig.2 is

a vertical central sectionof the upper of the steam jacket, Fig. 8 is asimilar sectionof the lowerhalit' thereof, and the upper.

and lower sections ofone of the interchangeable tire-molds seatedtherein. F igS'..4 and are enlarged cross sections of the apparatusIshowing molds of different sizes placedin 5 the steam acket.- .Fig. 6 afragmentary .perspectiveviewof one of the mold sections :and one. of theinterchangeable tread-molding bands, the parts being separated. Fig. 7is a similar view, showing a modified construction b1? the moldsections.Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of themoldsections.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary cross section oibne of the mold. sec tions-,-'on an enlarged scale,

.showinga filling ring seated iniits clencherbead groove to form. astraight-beaded 1t1re.

. Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective viewlof said ring.

Similar characters of'reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

I and 2 indicate respectivelyiithe upper and ,55 lower halves oropposing sections of constructthe apparatus as to adapt it tothe sizesand crosssections, while the outer sur- Specification of Letters Patent.-Patnted May 3 heating chamber or jacket which its pre terred form isannular and of circular cross section, as shown. Each of these sectionsis hollow for this purpose and adapted to re- ;ceive superheated steamwhich is supplied to the section bya valved pipe 3 anddis chargedtherefrom throughla valved pipe 4.

The two jacket sections are provided in their The contiguous faces ofthe jacket-sections I are flatand the sections are centered on each,otherrby dowels 6 on one section adapted to o entercorrespondingsockets 7 in the other. Swivel-bolts 8-.or other suitable means areemployedfor firmly clamping the sections together. I Q Q I l o"Coiiperating with one and the samesteanl jacket 1, 2 area plurality oftire-molds or" shells having cavities of different sizes or ijdesignsfor molding and vulcanizing tires.- of various makes and sizes. Figs; 4and 5 show by way of example, two of such molds, the formerforvulcanizing a large 'tire and the latter for vulcanizing arelatively.small one. :In' practice, however,- about twenty of such interchangeable.molds may be required for different makes and sizes of tires.

9, l0 designate thenpper and lower sections of the large moldillustrated in Fig. 4, and

11 the tire, while "12, 13 designate. the corre-.

sponding sections of the small in Fig. 5, and liothe tire. 1 I I ,Thecaviti'es of the several interchangemold shown able molds are of theproper shape and dimensions to produce tires ofthe desired faces'of'thecomplete molds are circular or ofa'ny other desired shape to conform toxthe cavityof the encircling heating chamher or jacket. Each mold isconstructed to L fit closely within the jacket, so that the heat fromthe jacket is transmitted through the 'walls of the mold sections to thetire placed there-in. For this, a purpose, the external diameter of allthe molds is substantially equal to the internal diameter of the jacket,

as shown. ,To lighten the molds, their walls are preferably hollow, atleast in their thickest portions. To promote the transmission 0f theheat from the steam-j acket to the tirecavity of'the .mold-sections, thelatter may be provided in their outer walls with perforations 15, andtransverse heat conducting webs or ribs 16 may be extended from. theouter to the inner walls of the molds, as shown in Fig. 5. The innerwalls of the molds are however imperforate, as shown, to prevent directcontact of the steam with-the tire.

17 indicates an air bag or core-placed Withinthe tire while beingvulcanized and adapted to be inflated under the requisite pressure toexpand the tire into the mold cavity. Air is supplied to' this bagthrough a suitable valve 18-.

Preferably combined with the sections of each mold is an annularmetallic band arranged to form that part ofthe mold-cavity which moldsthe customary non-skid tread surfaces 19 of the tire. This band maybe.which the :tread-1 nolding band 22 is removably seated. The bands 20,22' have suitable cavities 23 to produce non-skid projections of thedesired shape upon thetiretread. .A number of such bands areinterchangeably used with each mold to suit the various makes and sizesof tires.

The molds are formed with the usual opposing annular grooves 24 to formthe projecting beads of a clencher-tire, as shown in Figs. 3-7. To adaptthe molds to the vulcanization of tireswith straight or nonclencherbeads, as well as clencher-tires,

'removablefilling rings 25 of steel 'or'othcr suitable material arepreferably employed. Such a ring is laced in each of said grooves, asshown in ig. 9. and its face is flat or slightly convex, as shown at 26to give the tire-bead the desired shape.

Although my improved vulcanizing apparatus is suitable for molding andvul canizing new tires, it is intended more particularly for repairingor renewing the worn out parts of old tires and giving the tread thewearing qualities and appearance of a newtire. In repairlng such oldtires of the pneumatic type, it is very desirable to rebuild them byremoving the old rubber of the carcassfrom the tread to the beads andreplacing it withnew rubber, and to repair any bruises and blow out byputting a heavy liner on the inside of the the which also reinforces thestretched and worn out parts. After making such repairs, the inflatablebag is inserted in the of the corresponding mold which has beenpreviously placed in the lower part of the steam jacket. The upperhalves of the mold and the jacket are next put in place and the parts ofthe jacket locked together by the bolts 8 and finally 'superheatedsteamor any other suitable heating agent'is admitted to-th'ejacketandthetlle'lS subjected to the vulcanizing process until properly cured.

The resulting tire is practically rejuvenated, presenting the appearanceof an entirely new tire and possessing renewed wearinfg qualities whichmaterially prolong'its li e. 7 All portions of the tire are treated atone operation, producing uniform vulcanization and expeditingandreducing the cost of the work.

As the apparatus comprises a plurality of different-sized molds whichare interchangeably used with one and the same heating element or steamjackeuthe outfit effects an important economy,-not only by dispensingwith a separate steam-jacket for each mold but also by saving labor andrequiring less piping and other material,

especially in repair plants of limited size such as exist in smallcommunities. In suchcases it has'the advantage of requiring acomparatively small shop with acorrespondingly low overhead expense, anda small steam boiler to supply the steamjacket; t also has the advantagethat a repairer in a small town may originally purchase onl thesteam-jacket and a few molds of di erent sizes or'makes and add to hisoutfit as his means permit.

While my invention is herein shownand described in connection with. apneumatic tire, it is also useful for vulcanizing new solid tires aswell as repairing old ones of this type. Y

I claim as my invention:

1. A tire vulcanizing device comprising a heating unit consisting ofupper and lower continuous rings substantially "semi-oircu lar in crosssection and in contact with each other at their inner and outer edges,said rings being of hollow form to receivea heating agent, the abuttingsides of said rings being channeled between their inner and outeredgesto mutually co-act in forming a mold cavity, andaplurality ofcontinuous tire molds each 'formedof upper and lower rings contactingwith each other at their inner peripheries, the-external sides of saidrings being of uniform size to allow any of the several molds to besnuglyreceived in said tire cavity, while the internal sizes of saidrings vary for engagement with tires of different sizes, each ofsa'idmold rings being provided with spaced inner and outer walls.

1,377,13sw v i n3 2. A tire vulcanizing device comprising a heating unitconsisting of upper and lower rings substantially semi-circular in crosssection and of hollow form to receive a heat ing agent, the adjacentsides of said rings having channels mutually co-acting to form acontinuous moldreceiving cavity and contacting with each other at boththe inner; and outer edges of the channels and an, annular tire moldtotally received said cavity and formed of two separable side rings anda tread forming ring removably associated with said side rings.-

3. A tire vulcanizing device comprising a heating unit consisting ofupperand lower rings of hollow form to receive a heating agent,theadjacent sides of said rings hav- 7 ng channels mutually co-acting toform a continuous mold receiving'cavity, an annuseated in said groove.

4. A structure as specified in claim 2, each of said slde rings havingspaced inner and I outer walls and heatradiating ribs extending betweenthem and joined integrally therewith. c

- nEotJAGoBsoN.

